Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, By Robert Louise Stephenson And Frankenstein, By Mary Shelley

2242 words - 9 pages

Literature is a great form of art, and is very influential in the lives of many. People of an era may find the literature of that time to be fantastic and they learn from it since it is pertinent to the situations they face in their day-to-day lives. Yet there are some exceptions to this rule of pertinence of literature of an age, there is the ability that literature has to beat the test of time and live on for generations either by the written works, like the modern written books, or the verbal works, as can be noted in the transition of stories in the Native American culture. Some of time periods that are more heavily affected by these literary works were the times of the Romantic and Victorian ages that were going on during the early to the late 19th century. The use of themes pertinent to an age are the way an author can gain ground in their aspiring to be part of the circle of renowned artists in the art of literature. These messages that are relatable to a people during the time that they are created are often important to ideas that seem to be impervious to age. Many authors try to implement these themes yet most fail because they forget of an important part that their literature must possess, the ability to relate to audiences through every age, more specifically future. Many of these ideas are quite simplistic and rely on the plain knowledge that humans, regardless of time can relate too. The literature that can exude the characteristics of great literature must fulfill its obligations to an audience unlimited by time, then it can be praised for its greatness. There are few of these works but of these works they are able to cover all time and be relatable to the people, which read them. In the novels Frankenstein (Shelley) and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Stevenson) are the works of literature that are able to stand this test of time by using the pertinent messages of the duality of mankind, the importance of ones reputation, and the isolation that people feel. These messages aren’t limited to the audiences of the authors ages rather they show through their relatable messages that these messages can be relatable even to the people of the modern day society.
The use of the message of the duality of mankind is seen throughout the plot of both novels. The characterization of the story in the protagonists and antagonists of each story present it. The duality of mankind is relatable even today because we see very new and common literature implementing the idea. Since it is a timeless concept due to the inner struggle between good and evil, modernly represented in television with the angel on one side of the person’s head and on the other an image of the devil, which tries to appeal to evil desires. These images further show how the modern audience finds that the use of the duality of mankind in literature is ever so important a message. It was also pertinent to the audience in which it was created, the romantic and Victorian time period, because...

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